Experiment 07 (Garrus x OC)
by breeoreally
Summary: "... In the winter of 2024 I plunged myself into the celestial dotted goo- eyes open and unafraid, and felt blackness swallow me." After waking up after another bought of being in cryostasis and experimentation, Aurora O'Reilly finds herself in the middle of the Reaper Invasion, almost 200 years later. Rated M for some language and possibly sexual themes later.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own any of the Mass Effect character except for any OC's and the story plot.**

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**...**

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I coughed up more of the goo; it was disgusting the feel of it sliding out my mouth. I groaned as I felt another bought of sickness rise from my stomach and continue till it settled in my throat. Fortunately and unfortunately this batch burned from my stomach acid, at least there was no more goo. I slowly moved away from the bile I'd left on the floor, not my fault they didn't have a bucket for me to throw up in.

"Gross." I muttered. My voice sounded strange but I knew it would, my ears picked up a second, identical tone that layered over mine. It was slightly slower than my voice which is the only reason it stood out. I stood on shaky legs, steadying myself with just as weak arms; I needed to move. I wasn't completely used to the sound of my voice; I hummed softly getting used to the feel and sound I made.

"Welcome Aurora. How do you feel?" came a voice in front of me. Female. Soothing. Sound of a scientist or doctor. More likely is a doctor by the tone. Doctors tended to have more compassion in their voices.

My gaze went forward and only saw the outline of someone in the shadows. I half-glared at the person- glaring took effort, something I didn't want to actually do right now.

"I'd be better if I could see the person who is going to assess me."

"I don't think that is such good idea." An orange light shined for a second and the television that was still running went off.

_Omni-tool_. My brain clicked. I rolled my eyes as I heard her say that. I clenched my fingers to make a fist then rolled them to extension, repeating this a few times on each hand. I did the same with my toes, and when that was over with I slowly started the process of working out my body. Being in cyro made the subject weak when they exited but the feeling would soon wear off when the body's temperature regulated on its own. Which mine was doing quite well since this wasn't the first time I'd been woken up.

"You are used to this…" Her voice trailed off but I knew it was a question. _Newbie._ She walked forward, her steps light on the ground. I rolled my shoulders then went back to stretching out my legs. I glanced at her and my eyes widened. Female, doctors outfit. Blue skin and tentacles on the head. Human type body. _Asari_. My mind whirled at the information it had learned about the Asari. She seemed to hesitate as she looked at me.

"My name is Doctor Caliis (Khal-ee-ss). I'm an-"

"Asari" I finished for her. She looked confused for a second before I pointed at the television she turned off earlier.

"It's pointed at me for a reason."

I could see almost hear her brain jump into over drive as she realized what I meant. _Always with the shock_ I thought. This was the first time I've seen an Asari with my own eyes the vids, which were high in definition couldn't really compare to the real thing. She was strangely beautiful. Besides the blue skin, lack of ears and tentacle hair she looked human. Eyes, nose, mouth and lips, and her body's similarly shaped to that of a human female. From what I had learned from the vids they were an all-female race. Capable of living for 1000 years, if they were lucky. All Asari were able to use biotics and they were the first race to reach the Citadel. That was just the basics but that was all I needed.

I let her think for a few more seconds before I asked: "So what do you need my consent for this time?"

Her eyes snapped to me, shock covering her face again with what I could only assume to be the work of her figuring something out.

"There's a situation of which you may or may not be aware of…"

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"Shepard! We're pinned down behind the rubble-"

"Everything's rubble."

"-at the extraction point!"

Shepard quickly, as her heard Tali's report and Garrus' smartass comment of their surroundings- checked from behind the wall he was using, assessing the battlefield in front of him. With his Omni-tool also showing blipping red-dots of enemies her couldn't see, he had a pretty good idea that getting through to his team would be a piece of cake really. He continuously ducked from behind cover to land a few more shots with his N7 Valkyrie. After downing a few husks, he spoke through the comm: "I'm on my way."

Shepard jumped out from behind his protective spot and ran, occasionally ducking behind large amounts of fallen building to avoid the shots from the Marauders and Cannibals. He loaded another clip and kept firing at the hiding Marauders first before taking out the Cannibals. He could hear Tali's shotgun firing at any of the enemies that got to close and could make out Garrus' assault rifle and occasional concussive shots. Slowly the enemy's numbers were dissipating and they were winning. Shepard stomped on the head of a Cannibal who was crawling away from him, the crunch of its face under his boot semi-satisfying to his ears. Garrus and Tali's head popped up from behind their cover and Shepard smiled.

"Shepard!"

Tali's voice was covered by the sound of a growl. He already knew what that sound was and knew what would happen but his body still turned in response. A lone husk that had gotten separated from the group that ambushed him and his team had spotted Shepard… And had gotten the jump. All that Shepard could think was _Damn…_ He awaited the impact from the husk's tackle but instead was greeted by a wave of shock and the sound of a sniper rifle. The head of the Husk exploded and the green tinted fluid that ran through its body splattered all over Shepard's face and the wall. Shepard looked at Garrus; he thought that Garrus left his precious sniping rifle back on the ship for repairs? A small blip appeared on his Omni-tool tracker and immediately Shepard raised his gun and turned towards the dot. There was no movement, but that didn't mean that whatever had shot the Husk wasn't just hiding or being cloaked.

"Friendlies!" a voice shouted. It sounded human.

"Come out slowly and identify." Shepard ordered.

A figure made its way from behind more of the rubble; human, male. He looked older with his hair and beard peppered. He moved slowly, his hands raised above his head. He wore civilian style clothing with an Alliance symbol embroidered over the front, left side of the shirt- over the heart.

"Kenway, Adams. I'm uh… well civilian now I guess."

"A survivor, here? Kee'lah." Tali's voice snapped Shepard from looking over the man; he then lowered his weapon. Ex-Alliance, showed why the old man survived for so long.

"Most people say 'friendly' if there's only one person." Garrus commented; Shepard could feel the Turian looking past the man at anything that seemed out of place. There were no blips on his Omni-tool but long distance was another story, that and height.

"That would be my protection detail, and I guess yours," the man responded gesturing to the headless Husk. "They're carrying weapons so I decided to be the liaison."

I looked over the man once again; the subtle shift of Tali and Garrus returning their weapons to a ready position, scouring the area for anything at all.

"We're looking for the SSV Normandy extraction point." Shepard raised his eyebrow at this. It wasn't common knowledge that extraction points would be told to anyone outside of the ship. And the only ones who really needed to know were Joker, EDI and Steve.  
"We have orders" the man added.

They stared each other down before Shepard finally nodded. There were too many variables to even make what he said true, but leaving innocents behind when they were right behind him was not an option. And if they turned out the be Cerberus Shepard would take care of them the way he'd been taking care of the Reaper forces. Quick, calm and deadly.

"Call your team. We're leaving now." Touching his ear with the comm quickly Shepard turned away from the man and ordered Steve to get them now and to send a message to the Normandy to be ready for visitors, possible friendlies or enemies. Even though it was a time of war they still had to keep up the regulations when visitors were aboard. Usually Shepard would have just waited until another shuttle could have picked up this man and the 'Protection Detail' he mentioned, but the fact that 1: they knew who he was, which wasn't a huge surprise being the first human Spectre but still, 2: they knew about the extraction point which no one should have known about, and 3: clearly this person had ties to Alliance but this area was a danger zone and civilians were supposed to be evacuated already; it would have been difficult to survive, an finally 4: Shepard was curious. Movement from the left caught the Normandy teams' eye. A woman slid down from a large piece of street that had been torn up from the ground, creating an effective slide and bridge to the second floor of a demolished building. She carried an old looking sniper rifle; and she held it properly. _The Protection Detail the man mentioned, but she doesn't look like she has a lot of armor._ She looked to the pepper-haired man, who nodded in return, then looked back up the cement-slide and waved her hand in a beckoning motion. This time a large group of people slid down from the building: 4 men, 4 women and… 'Movement from the left caught the Normandy'without armor needing help down. then it shoul

"They moved with that many people?" Tali asked. The amount of people they traveled with was shock enough, but it was the small legs that took 2 or 3 steps compared to the group's 1 that made Shepard's heart stop-

"Children." Shepard muttered. "You have children?!"

The man stepped forward, pulling a small data chip from his pocket and held it out to Shepard.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a flurry of activity once we were aboard the Normandy. Shepard had remained quiet when we were piled into the shuttle. The Quarian and Turian followed the Commander's example and kept their lips sealed tight, but that didn't stop the Turian from looking every single one of us over. I could see his mandible twitch in thought. They were slightly raised and extended a bit from his face; he was looking over us as a threat. When we disembarked the shuttle, Shepard barked out orders to have us checked out by the ship's doctor. We took our packs off and neatly stacked them into a small pile, although we didn't hand over our weapons. At Shepard's order I flicked my eyes to Adam and he seemed to understand. We wouldn't be what they were expecting with some of the enhancements and… set-backs from the experimentation.

"Excuse me Commander Shepard!" Shepard stopped and turned to Adams. "Having us looked over won't be-" Well that wasn't the message I was trying to get across.

Shepard cut him off. "You came through a battle zone with civilians and children. Besides the fact that any of you could be seriously injured, you are still a security risk. There are those that have been indoctrinated and do not show signs until it is too late, and that is not mentioning the fact that there is a human faction that is fighting against us. I will not take that risk because one of your people saved my life and that you have Alliance clearance."

Adams opened his mouth to speak but closed it. Shepard was right of course. The Turian and Quarian had stayed in the cargo bay possibly because leaving Shepard alone was not an option to them. There was also a very buff, somewhat handsome Hispanic man near what I would call a 'Weapons Cage' and of course the dark-skinned man who piloted the shuttle. He kept up with the Commander and left the area of our group quite quickly. I sighed and glanced at the Turian. He was overlooking Sam. Sam was intimidating by all accounts; 6'4", giant muscles and a face that screamed he had seen combat before; but Sam, as cliché as it was, wasn't one of the people that we would put on the front lines. Not that he couldn't handle his own, he could, but he stayed back to act as a protector for the children and the 2 elders we had with us. I glanced down at the sniper rifle I still held, I needed to get rid of this and so did the rest of the group. Adams was still trying to explain to Shepard that the doctor would find, 'abnormalities' with us, and unfortunately for Adams Shepard wasn't budging. I moved myself away from Jenny, one of the other females, and walked over to Sam.

The Turian's gaze snapped to watch my movements. I kicked Sam's booted foot, claiming his attention before I continued past his a few steps and put down the sniper rifle. I then removed the pistol and assault rifle from my thigh and back, and placed them in the pile as well. I hesitated for a second before removing the 2 knives from my calves. I turned around and looked back at Sam who nodded his head. He walked over to those who still had their weapons and grabbed them. They protested until he glared, pointing to me, and then resorted to grumbling quietly and removing the rest of the weapons from their person. I slowly walked towards the Turian, staring at him; head slightly tilted to the side. He gazed at me carefully, his mandibles barely flicking in response. I stopped when I was a couple feet away from him, a semi respectful distance although I was sure that staying further back would have been better. It did however show that I was attempting to remain a non-threat. I'd never actually seen a Turian up close like this- I mean a few of the Doctor's had been Turians when our species became allies (although it took a lot to get them there to be honest) and there had been the vids… but seeing one up close was different. I turned around slightly and caught Sam's glance and nodded at him. He nodded in return and I turned back to look at the Turian looking him over. From what I could see, his skin was grey with a slight tint of brown, reminding me of concrete somewhat; from what I could see of his exposed neck it was mostly more brown in color. Half of his face was heavily scarred but clearly held together well. While a visor covered his unscarred eye, his other eye was a light blue. I was partially unsure whether or not his eye had lightened because of the trauma or not but that was not something at the top of my list to figure out.

"Adams, stop trying. O'Reilly said she'll demonstrate." Sam voiced. I could see Adams turn and stare at me.

"A demonstration of what?" Asked the Turian, his gaze never leaving me. Clearly he understood that I was the one who would be demonstrating.

"O'Reilly?" It took him a second to realize what I had planned but he understood. "Wait!"

I cut Adam's off. The surprise that the Turian expressed came with a chirp like noise that ended in a raised pitch, the sound would have been lost to anyone else but of course- my ears were slightly heightened and trained to pick up those sounds, those that ranged below our standard frequencies and those we could hear as well as their context meanings.

"You could call them abnormalities. Are all Turians as tall as you?" I asked curiously standing on my toes quickly to evaluate his height. I wasn't short by all means but he did stand over 6 feet. He watched me carefully, probably trying to figure out what exactly had happened and why I was being so nonchalant about this. He never answered my question, though that was probably because he radiated confusion. My voice sounded just like his, a more human tone to it of course, but there was no denying the fact that I sounded similar to a Turian. The Turian trilled which turned into a something of a short 'huff' out his nostrils; _I don't believe it_. I responded to him with a snort, the context obvious to almost any species; _get over it_.

His mandibles flexed out and his mouth slightly parted; this was pure shock. Turians were hard to read in general but that expression was clearer than day, he didn't even bother to guard it. Shepard stepped forward staring at me for a second before his eyes flicked between Adams and the rest of the group and the Turian kept staring down at me, his mouth still "open". I kept observing him, awaiting any more reactions.

After the First Contact War in 2157 scientists were still very interested in the Turian anatomy, especially our scientists since ours were always brought in at some point or another. These scientists would always send in applications to see what extra tests they could ask to run on us based on information they had gathered, learned and heard about concerning the Turian enemies, even though they were allies and information could be found on the Extranet any person could figure out the rest.

"Female, young. Voice is similar to that of a Turian. Addition to anatomy in her own voice box? A new voice box perhaps? Human? Turian? No way to know unless looked over. Only conclusive reason to have something like this done was for testing. Experiment. Human testing." I turned my head slightly and looked in the direction of the new voice. Salarian. Male. He was semi old and scarred over. He was followed by an older woman, both carrying a medium sized case of which one would assume to be filled with medical supplies.

I sent a smile to the Salarian as well as a quick wink, "Aw you think I'm young?

"O'Reilly, keep your mouth shut." I rolled my eyes and turned around completely to look at Adams.

"They're going to find out when they look us over."

"Looking us over is not needed. Shepard, please understand that we can explain the general idea of what has happened to us."

Shepard continued to look at me and never removed his gaze. I could almost see the wheels in his brain turning, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you just stupid then?" I asked Adams.

"O'Reilly!"

"Shepard explained it very simply- he doesn't trust us. And with what's going on, especially with the fact that I've made it clear there are 'modifications' done to me, it's reasonable for him not to." I lifted my left arm up and brought up my Omni-tool.

Continuing: "As always, it is a choice of yours to refuse but it is a choice of mine to explain about myself." After finding my electronic file I looked to Shepard. " Commander Shepard, with your permission I would like to go over a medical file concerning what has happened to myself, as well as to clear up any confusion and answer any questions you may have pertaining to my own files and what is on the data chip."

"And what does this gain you?" the Turian finally asked.

I thought for a second before answering. "Honestly? It will at least ease the tension that's already rifting between us;" Shepard raised an eyebrow, "it will also give you an understanding of the predicament that the others are faced with as well as answers. Plus, if it gets me any closer to the possibility of talking with your Turian squad mate and, well mainly getting to the Citadel all the better" I shrugged my shoulders just a bit then chuckled lightly. "That and Adams would blow a gasket and I can't pass up a chance to do that." At this Adams glared at me; _called it_.

Shepard smirked but covered it up in an instant. "Terms accepted. Although any conversation you want with Garrus would have to be alright with him."

I nodded my head at this, "Naturally."

"Mordin" Shepard called and the Salarian walked forward. "The file?" he asked me.

"All yours." I replied. My Omni-tool made a small noise notifying me that it had found the Salarian's and Shepard's Omni-tools and was ready to transfer the information.

"O'Reilly, you cannot-" Adams took 2 large strides and put his hand on my shoulder with a hard grip. "-do this! We were given strict orders not to divulge any information to anyone unless it was needed."

It was an almost natural-yet-unnatural reaction; to be honest I couldn't control the responses my emotions conveyed through my voice box, because I legitimately growled. A very low tone that I'm not sure Adams even heard. I surprised myself really but caught myself all the same. _That was new_ I thought but internally shrugged it off. _Nothing I hadn't heard before but that was definitely different feeling._

"Adams, you're not my CO, especially since I'm just a Government project- still Private Sector." I snapped back.


	3. Chapter 3

I spent a good 4, almost 5 days in the care of Doctor Mordin Solus. Most of the tests would take some time to complete but that was expected. He had many questions and most of the time his train-of-thought-speech answered some of them already, only requiring a simple confirmation to see if he was correct or not. I knew that in the end I would be here for some time and was hoping I'd get to talk to Commander Shepard soon. He had already sent word to Dr. Solus saying he had read my file and had accessed the information on the data chip. Under the orders of Dr. Solus I was not allowed to leave the confines of the Med-Bay or talk to anyone else. Still a security risk. I sighed softly as the good doctor took another sample of my blood. I looked across from me and went back to looking out the window to what looked to be the crew's galley: A semi-small kitchen, a table to eat at and a small open space. I was tired of being in a scientists-doctor setting.

"Is something wrong Miss O'Reilly?" asked Dr. Solus. He pulled out the needle from my arm and dabbed a small amount of medi-gel. I could already see the gel working on closing the tiny hole.

"No offense Doctor Solus-"

"Mordin." He replied before he walked off.

"Mordin, right. Well I've been stuck in the same type of setting for so long. I know that as soon as you're done testing there's the possibility of me being able to walk out of here, but habit is telling me that I'm going back to cryo for another extended period of time. I don't like staying here if I don't have too…" I trailed off with a sigh.

"Well most tests are complete or will be. Shepard requires your presence to discuss the information you have given him and your terms. Will require more answers form you later. Can wait. More pressing matters. Eve needs more antibiotics. Status stable. But must be careful."

I glanced at the Krogan who had remained quiet, except or her polite introduction when she caught me looking at her in the beginning. She had shared little really and that was fine since Dr. Sol- Mordin had been making me take a bunch of tests; some which required a biopsy of my inner tissue.

"So I can go?" I asked.

"Yes yes. Major Alenko is sitting at table, waiting for your arrival to take you to Shepard."

I smiled. I was out! I hoped of the table with ease and started walking out. The doors opened and quickly I walked out but not before turning and called out: "Feel better Eve! Bye Mordin!"

The doors closed behind me. I turned right and came face-to… well nose with a man. I took a step back and looked up a bit. Attractive man. Possibly mid-thirties? Dark hair, combed back perfectly.

"Uh, Major Alenko I presume?"

The man nodded. "Yeah that's me. Pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand in the standard human greeting. Man this guy was polite. A joke came to my head but I only smiled hoping it would come off as me just being friendly.

"Nice to meet you as well Major."

"Shepard's waiting for you in the briefing room." He took one step away and started walking, with me quick to follow a half step behind him. Walking into the elevator, it only took it a few seconds for it to reach to new floor. The Major walked out and headed to a door labeled 'Briefing Room'. "One of your companions, Adams I think it was has been trying to talk to him, but Shepard says he'll only talk to you."

"Yeah Adams doesn't like not being in charge." I answered as the doors opened. Inside was Shepard, an Asari and of course the Turian from earlier- Garrus.

"Going over your Commanding Officer's head will usually make them mad." Shepard commented.

I rolled my eyes, "He's not my Commanding Officer. He's the only one who actually said yes to join the United States Armed Forces. Everyone else is all Private Sectors, but since we were a part of the project we were given Government clearance and technically a rank based on skills before and after testing. Which I guess turned into Alliance clearance and rank when the Nations of the Earth decided to join together."

"But wouldn't that mean he outranks you?" the Asari mused. She was just as pretty as the first Asari I met, different though. She stood around my own height, with the standard Asari blue colored skin and the 'hair-tentacles' as I called them. Her mainly white with blue trimmed outfit held some armored plates that seemed flexible and easy to move in. She had… a really great body. I quickly answered her before it looked like I was checking her out.

"We're not a Military Unit. Technically anyways. We stuck together after being 'released' from the facility because our chances of survival were higher together."

"Speaking of your facility. We understand the basis of what you were brought in for, but all these extra… experiments are somewhat…" the Asari trailed off seeming at a loss for words to describe what exactly had occurred.

"Well I can tell you what extras I have. I can't mention certain things about the others." Shepard nodded his head and leaned forward to listen. I lifted my arm to bring up my Omni-tool and lifted it just a bit higher to activate the program: a hologram of an orange human body appeared.

"Let's see. First were the weaves: bone, muscle and skin." The hologram lit up my entire body to a now yellow-ish color to show where. Then it showed certain magnified sections of the weaves construction; it looked like one of my old science text books. "It was one of the bases of when the weaves were first introduced to the human anatomy. It's why it was released so quickly- human experiments with our consent of course. Our bodies would heal slowly in cryo so that if anything went wrong the doctors and scientists could fix or remove anything. Um, a few more tests were run to give us vaccines for diseases that had been cured as well as any illnesses. So, we'll actually live as long as a standard human will now." The text book image remained.

"During and after the First Contact War, the interest in Turians with the guys in the labs was at an all-time high and that's where the rest of my learning went. All my learning was spent on watching the Turians when I was sent back to sleep: language, reactions and movements." My ears, throat and part of my chest were highlighted in green as well as my mouth and stomach. "As you can hear my voice is altered. Turian voice box- lab grown and Turian approved. My ears were heightened to hear the wide range of frequencies when sub-harmonics are involved. And my teeth were hardened. My stomach was merged with cells from a Turian and after years of fixes, I was the only one who accepted the change. According to a few of the tests that I'm a bit hazy on, I can survive off of dextro-amino based food as well as levo-amino."

"You're like a walking science miracle. Transplants from one species to another is very risky. Positive results would be minimal." The Asari concluded.

"A walking science project more like it." I replied.

"And why the want to speak with me?" Garrus asked. His mandibles twitched slightly. He was still regarding me as a threat, albeit less than last time. It was a start at least. His stance had slackened from someone who was ready to take on a threat to someone who was just wary of a new thing in their environment.

"I was, in a sense, forced to watch years of footage to better understand you. I've watched children's videos, fake films, data feeds, and of course documentaries. I've had to watch programs that re-ran the same image in different speeds and in different magnifications to understand what the smallest flick of your mandibles would mean." I sighed looking away from him. "You're the first Turian I've ever met; hell the first I've ever seen. I'm curious." His mandibles stayed still, trying to figure out what reaction to have towards me.

"I just have questions…" I mumbled.

The Asari laughed trying to ease any tension and make it less awkward- for who? Mostly likely the Turian. "Well unless those questions have anything that is relevant to calibrations and guns, especially sniper rifles, I'm not sure that Garrus would have much to say." Garrus huffed softly at this but it seemed to be in good nature.

I bit my lip softly before looking at Garrus. "Do you prefer Automatic, Single-Shot, or Semi?"

His mandibles lifted a bit, more so on one side, an equivalent to a smirk, before he looked to Shepard and I could see Shepard grinning; when he nodded his head Garrus looked back to me and answered: "Single shot."

"Hmm. Well I'm going to assume you don't mean a charged single shot? That would mean you prefer the M-92 Mantis or the M-98 Widow , unless you use an older model."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so sorry about my slip up with my chapters... My fault entirely. SORRY!**

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...

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It would take us another week to get to the Citadel, and so far that was looking promising. We had been aboard the Normandy for a week so far; Shepard still had to run missions every now and then. We were okay with that, or at least the others had to be okay with that. Shepard had already contacted Admiral Hackett and informed him of the situation. Adams had calmed down some from earlier, he was livid when Mordin finally let me back down to grab my stuff. Since the others wouldn't let the Doctors Currently, Adams was talking to Hackett with Shepard and Mordin. I was sitting in the Observation Lounge just looking out the window. Earth's atmosphere was filled with so much smog, pollution and light that we could never see the stars from anywhere that was considered populated. Although going to rural areas let you see them like never before- this was different. The rest of the group was content of staying downstairs in the cargo bay. Shepard had provided them with extra sleeping units, pillows and blankets and another things. They were fine staying down there; truth is, they would rather have been back asleep and didn't trust anyone here. If only they knew of this view they would change their minds. After asking EDI if there was a space I could go, she directed just down from the Galley to the Starboard Observation deck. Apparently the Major spent a good amount of time here but at the moment he was very busy with taking care of the group downstairs. Major Alenko had already judged me on my leaving of my family quite harshly, and I'm sure those who were aware did the same, although they weren't verbal about it like he was.

I let out a soft breath of air and relaxed more still staring at the stars. There was so much light in that blackness. It was beautiful, captivating, stunning, entrancing…

I could hear they faint clack of footsteps. That was normal since a lot of people walked in this area. The steps got closer and the door opened.

"Oh hello O'Reilly. I didn't know you were here."  
I leaned back and twisted my body slightly. Liara T'Soni, the Asari, was standing there.

"Hi Liara." I smiled. Liara was in the all sense of the word: nice. If she ever thought about something negative towards what I did she kept it to herself and for that I was grateful. I didn't need another Alenko at the moment.

"May I join you?"

"Please do." Instead of sitting on the couch that to the right of me she lowered herself to the floor, folding her legs under her.

"What are you doing here?" she finally voiced after a minute or so of comfortable silence.

"Hiding from Alenko, Adams and Mordin. You?"

She stifled a small smile behind her hand, "Hiding? I can understand Mordin and possibly Adams. But Alenko?"

"He… questions my morality of leaving my family all the time."

"That does not sound like him at all. Are you alright?"

The door opened again. "Why should she be? She left her family." Alenko.

Liara and I turned around seeing Shepard, Alenko and Garrus standing in the doorway.

"Kaidan!" Liara stood quickly and half-glared at him. That was uncalled for, even from her view.

I stood as well. Guess this place wasn't good to camp out at now. I'd have to ask EDI for another spot, hopefully one that had a view just like this one. Unlike Liara however, I completely glared at Alenko.

"She left her family Liara. She didn't even care that she hurt them! Says a lot about her. What if it had been anyone else? What if she was your partner? Would you trust someone who left her own family not to leave you, a person who isn't even related?"

I clenched my fists as I felt my chest silently rumble. The growl rang from my throat and I didn't even care at that moment; it was semi-deep and throaty, I sounded like a dangerous animal… Garrus' mandibles flared out and he put a hand on Kaidan's shoulder. He opened his mouth and warned Kaidan to back off, taking a step closer. Guess that type of growl meant exactly what I was feeling.

"I am not some cold hearted bitch," I got out. _Shit_ I thought _don't do it…_ I felt the sting of my eyes which meant that I was tearing up. "That left her family without feeling anything! Leaving them was the hardest thing I have ever done. I watched my family lower a casket into the ground and I watched them shatter. I wished that I had never even considered leaving but I couldn't back out because my father taught me there are commitments that you don't considered breaking" I stepped forward. Kaidan's body tensed up, he was ready for a swing. "I don't need anyone to remind me of that aloud." I shoved past him another growl escaping my throat.

Shepard whispered Kaidan's name harshly and I could hear someone getting punched.

"O'Reilly!" Kaidan called.

"Go fuck yourself Major!" I snarled. I could see some of the crew that milled about stop their actions, staring at me in shock. I'd probably pay for that later but at the moment it just hurt too much. I made my way to the Port Observation deck just across the hall with someone following me. The door opened. This was pretty much the same, except there was a small bar and a gambling table at opposite ends of the room. This deck was ore frequented by others which is why I wanted to go to the other but right now there was no one. The window shutter was up and I could see the stars again.

"You need to calm down." Garrus' baritone voice resonated behind me. "Alenko doesn't know the extent of it but you threatened to harm him."

I sat down on the floor and brought my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them.

"Whether you meant it or not, I will not allow any harm to come to a squad mate of mine, even if,"

I took in a shaky breath and lowered my head burying my face into my legs. A whine of some kind left my throat. Garrus didn't even move and I could feel his gaze on me.

"What he said was true or not." He trailed off, his voice gentler it seemed. The door lightly swished open then closed just a quickly.

"O'Reilly?" I didn't answer Liara, if I did the tears would threaten to pour out. Stupid human psyche; always wanting recognition in some way, sympathy in this case. My body shuddered and silent sobs threated to show. _Get yourself together. Dad would have already gotten you a dink and shaken some sense into you. You're an O'Reilly_, _'Fortitudine et prudential'_; '_With fortitude and prudence '. Fortitude and prudence. Fortitude and prudence. Fortitude and prudence…_

I took 2 deep breaths before I pulled my head away from my legs and quickly dabbed my eyes. No tears, good. I stretched my legs out before I sighed and stood up.

"O'Reilly? Are you okay?"

I turned and sent a small forced smile to Liara. "Well I'd be better if you called me Aurora. I've been here for almost a week and no one has called me by my name." I laced my fingers together and lifted my arms above my head in a stretch. Liara returned the smile.

I shrugged. "Need to find the Major."

"Absolutely not." Garrus said.

"Oh come on." Garrus didn't respond; guess that was his answer for 'still, no'. I huffed and the sound ended with a groan. The next thing I heard surprised me, Garrus laughed.


	5. Chapter 5 - Background

I was born in the spring of 1993, and in the winter of 2024 I died.

The year was 2185 and I was 32 years old. I'd been 32 for a long time really. If a doctor were to give me a physical exam they would find the body of a human female in her 30's, but scanners had to disagree. The radiation levels were off and coupled with the genes that predated the Alliance regulations for health, I was a walking history experiment.

Like I said before, I was born in the spring of 93'- mind you that's not 2093, 1993; A 21st century baby. Most people in this day and age would assume I meant 2093. I had friends, relationships, a family and a life. I went to college, played sports, had a job and even fell in love once. Bastard broke my heart but let's not talk about him. In 2018 a man in a black suit offered me a job. He said that they had been monitoring me for some time and would benefit from a program. Part of me was ecstatic when they finally told me what they were planning on perfecting. I, along with what they called a "handful of others", we are prime specimens of the human race. In all aspects we seemed smarter, stronger, and faster- we were perfect. My job was to be a human experiment- one that would actually be recognized by the government. Scientist's apparently had been conducting experiments of cryostasis; you know the freezing of a person. They had already worked out the kinks of the body, brain and organs being shut down for too long for a person to wake up; they worked out the kinks of the brain forming a mental disorder while in cryostasis. What they wanted to see was if the brain activity could stay active along with partial senses: sight and sound. All to see if we could still understand while frozen.

It took me 5 years of intensive training to officially be let into the program. In that time I kept by wits sharp and my body in shape. I was trained to preform tactical drills; able to take apart, put back together and fire a wide variety of firearms and other military grade weapons. I was trained in hand-to-hand combat and survival skills. I was No. 07 out of 14. And in that time I had also made a choice.

I was born in the spring of 1993, and in the winter of 2024 I died.

I watched from a distance as my family and friend's mourned my death. In that instance no amount of preparation that I said I was good on prepared me for the heart break I felt. I wasn't the only one either. Those who accepted the job were also held back as they saw their loved ones fall apart and break. We were given 3 months at most to get back to our senses. It took me a few weeks to get "my head back in the game" but I buried what remained of my guilt deep down, this was a choice I had made and I wasn't about to back out of something big like this; my parents taught me better... In the winter of 2024 I plunged myself into the celestial dotted goo- eyes open and unafraid, and felt blackness swallow me.

It felt like a movie. I watched and heard things partake around me. I watched our new president take the stand; a war end and another begin. I watched as they discovered something in the ocean deep and the leap through a scientific breakthrough take off. It was then that I woke up. It felt like a few hours of my life went by- like a movie; no ache, no pain, no tiredness. Waking up was annoying though, something that I actually dreaded. I coughed up the liquid my body kept inside and kept dry-heaving after that. I couldn't breathe. The people who surrounded me were different scientists than I remembered, I couldn't ask who they were because after they had declared my healthy and stable they left me to rest. An hour or so after the questions started. For every one of mine they had 20. But the biggest question came through as well.

"We would like to run more tests and let your body heal on its own. It'll be the same as it was before. We perfected the ability to heal while in cryostasis."

I and a few of the others allowed our bodies to be used for more experiments. We would occasionally be woken up and told what was going to happen; since most of the time we had to be put under, we would wake up after the experiment was placed and the healing process had finished. They were careful to monitor our health if our bodies rejected whatever they had given us. And as always, months felt like minutes and years like hours sometimes. Always in the form of a movie.

I learned so much in that time. New techniques for survival, new ways to eat, new technology. The scientists would play vids that demonstrated how to work a certain object on repeat for what they told me, at days on a time. Then they would move to a new subject. The scientific stuff never really stuck with me, I could hold a very basic conversation if I could talk but what I remembered the most was technology and survival, most physical.

My time in that celestial-dotted goo seemed to drag on at one point. The scientists packed up and left for some time, the computer programs keeping our education going. They returned but from what I saw they were different; new; strangers. And it went on like this for a while.


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHORS NOTE: So I know that my timelines are way off, meaning that Mordin and Alenko were never on the ship at the same time. Yes I realize it. It was a mistake in the beginning but now I actually want it this way. Works better with what I now have planned. I will fix this so it starts to be more like the storyline in the gameplay. ****And because I forgot put this in...  
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**Disclaimer: Besides my OC's, I do not own Mass Effect. Enjoy.**

**I forgot to add in Chapter 4. Just realized it. I know... I'm doing such a great job! Sorry about that~**

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I stared at him for a second before a smiled.

"What?" he asked. Liara was looking at me with the same questionable gaze that Garrus had directed at me.

"You… well you relaxed." I answered in return. It was true. For one I was surprised to hear him laugh because he'd been so cautious of me before, never letting his guard down. His mandibles had dropped just a bit into a slacked position. Plus it sounded genuine; like he actually thought what happened was funny. Garrus bristled though as soon as I said he relaxed, he seemed shocked really, and then he was on guard again. Completely different; more like he got his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"I'm kind of curious as to what was so funny."

Garrus didn't answer at first, just kept his gaze on me then his mandibles re-slackened and his posture did the same. "I believe the way you humans would say it would be 'Come on dad'." He answered me with a mocking tone, not in the mean way though, while crossing his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes at his impression (_a bad, but strangely accurate one at that_) to mimic a child complaining to their father, even laughing when he finished. For a moment I forgot that I was in the Portside Observation, forgot why I felt a weight; and just because a Turian got me to laugh with a bad impression. Then I remembered. _Meh_… "I still have to talk to the Major."

"That may not be the best thing at the moment." Liara replied to my plan.

"I'm just going to apologize." I looked at Garrus, "Honest." I held his gaze then he nodded.

…

"I'm sorry for losing control." I stared at Major Alenko while I apologized to him in front of Shepard and Garrus. Garrus stood behind me, ready to break us apart if things turned south, and Shepard stood a little ways from Alenko watching both of us. I had asked Shepard for permission to talk to the Major, asking if Garrus and he would be there. Shepard was hesitant at first but after some words with Garrus he agreed. Shepard had to be there since he was Commanding Officer of course and having Garrus there was to mainly make everyone feel at ease; he would know well before I would what my 'throat-feelings' meant. We were currently on Deck 1, in Shepard's Cabin. Alenko went to open his mouth but I cut him off.

"I am not sorry that I got mad because you were out of line to just assume that about me, it's more that I lost my temper and yelled at you in front of the crew. You have a right to have your own thoughts and opinions about me, and the others, but I would have thought that you would have had just as much tact anyone who knows has demonstrated. If you had talked to me more like an adult about this I wouldn't have snapped at you."

The Major held my gaze and in the end nodded. He glanced over to Shepard who barely moved his head in a nod as a reply or an order.

"I am sorry for the way I acted earlier, it was wrong of me and I will never treat you or the rest of your companions in that manner again because of the past." I tried my hardest not to wince, he sounded like a robot- no feeling. I wasn't very happy with the fact that he had just recited something that came to mind but it was all I was ever going to get.

I sighed softly nodding my head as well before I composed myself in the same way he was. Back straight, eyes hard, voice cold, hands clasped tightly behind his back, feet shoulder width apart and knees locked: _the mindless solider, with a good reason-_ I could see a slight discoloration on his upper arm where his sleeves were rolled. Where Shepard had probably punched him, _Guess Shepard did a bit more than talk_ _to him_.

"Accepted." I looked to Shepard and nodded my head.

"May I go Commander?" Shepard was staring hard at Alenko, almost glaring at him. He moved his gaze to me and gave a small smile, waving me off. I turned on my heel and walked out, Garrus walking right next to me.

"Major Alenko, you can stay." The door closed shut, the green lock light turning red.

"Well that was uncomfortable." I said rolling my shoulders to release the awkwardness I felt. Garrus hummed in reply before hitting the call button for the elevator. I took a step towards Garrus moving to his side just looking at the door, waiting.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not sure if he was even looking. "You understand me more." I stole a quick glance to him, his brow plate was quirked up; A very human thing in my opinion since I don't recall any of the Turian vids showing that Turians did that. I went back to watching the door.

"Care to explain how that is?" The elevator doors opened, Garrus motioning me to step in first. _What a gentleman_. He stepped in after me, pressed the pad on the wall as the doors closed, DECK 3, and then proceeded to lean against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Not intimidating since he was so relaxed.

His mandibles flicked out and at that moment I could hear a soft clicking type of noise coupled with a soft hum. I tilted my head to the side as I listened.

"What does that sound mean?"

"What...?"

The faint noise stopped when he answered.

"It sounds like a clicking and humming." _I wonder if I can make that clicking noise… _I hadn't tried forcing myself to make any of the sounds that I'd done before, which was limited since I had only made two; a growl and that whine. I assumed that was a Turian sound at least.

"That noise."

Garrus shifted a bit before answering: "It's me trying to figure something out. My own version of course. Every Turian's way of trying to piece together information is different of course, but you get the feeling behind it really." I nodded, wondering what mine would sound like. Turians subharmonics weren't heard by any of species besides some 'sounds'. The elevator slowed right before we stopped and Garrus went back to standing upright.

"You never answered my question" he stated as he let me out of the elevator first. According to ship time, it was first shift for dinner which explained the few crewmen wandering about. The Normandy has a decent sized crew of course, but since the ship could mainly be handled by EDI there weren't many people here to begin with, so the line for food was rather short. Food was already brought down to the other "experiments" downstairs and at the moment I still wasn't on good terms with them. Besides, staying up here was better than being in the Shuttle Bay 24/7. _All because they won't let Shepard examine them._ Shepard had informed me that I was more than welcome to join the crew in either first and second shift dinning. We stood near the 'Memorial Wall'. I wasn't sure where to go at the moment since I still wanted to talk to my Turian acquaintance.

"Same way you knew with that fiasco with the Major earlier." I answered finally.

A few of the crew members passed by, some stopping to salute Garrus who just nodded in reply to let them go. "How… how are you?" Garrus muttered quietly as to not let other hear. At least he had the sense not to talk about this aloud. The crewmen moved on. "The, uh… well the sound you made in the Port Observation Deck…" _That whine_. He continued, his eyes looking over my face carefully, "For Turians it means- destruction. Crap, that's not the right word. Uh, devastation. Heart break really." I flinched, the action definitely not going unnoticed; Garrus hummed something in reply, a deep grumbling sound that sounded very comforting. _Strange thought since I have no real idea, _but assuming that it was a reply to my discomfort made me feel better.

"Well that explains why the tone of your voice changed." I replied. My heart clenched at the memory of what had just transpired not even a couple hours ago. Garrus took a step away from the 'Memorial Wall' and beckoned me to follow. His subharmonics were still giving off that grumbling-hum that I was actually starting to like so I followed without question. We walked past the mess hall, ignoring the rest of the crew and continued towards and finally into his domain: The Main Battery.

The door closed behind me, the locking mechanism going and yellow-orange. He didn't lock us in but it meant "DO NOT DISTURB". I'd never been in here. To my right was a console with a large map showing clusters of what I assumed to be ships. I looked away quickly before I could get too curious. In the center was a larger console with 2 screens and to my left was a weapons bench, a sniper rifle sitting there in pristine condition, parts strewn around to better modify the one-shot weapon. Behind the center console was the main battery with 2 gangways on either side. I stayed in front of the door, getting a feel for the place and a feel of the room in general before looking at Garrus. He was back to leaning although this time it was against the center console, just watching me. The grumble-hum had stopped. I scuffed my foot against the floor, kicking at nothing but my silence. Garrus just continued to wait patiently, saying and doing nothing that said he was going to push me to talk but he wasn't going to leave me alone about it.

That's when I considered him more than an acquaintance. He listened to me talk, my voice wavering to the point where I would stop. He rumbled quietly during those few moments of silence and it would softly fade when I started talking again.

When I finished Garrus stayed silent.

"I'm not exactly sure what do to here…" he admitted.

I chuckled a bit at his awkward honesty which got me a very confused look from him. _Eh, he'll get used to it_.

"Could we be friends?" I asked finally.

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**P.S. If anyone is good at writing any M-rated scenes, help would be greatly appreciated. Sadly my writing skills come off as childish when I try and think of something to write…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey guys. So I know I mentioned this before but I'm changing up the timeline for the moment. So for those of you who would like to know we are in the Tuchunka section. I know that Kaidan is supposed to be in the hospital injured AND that EDI is supposed to be in her own body AND that Tali doesn't show up till later; changing it up. Don't worry.**

**Also, I'd like to apologize for my mix up with my chapters. I accidentally reposted Chapter 6 (thanks for catching that!) and had to rewrite Chapter 7. Sorry again and thank you for all the favorites and follows!**

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The Citadel was definitely something. _Population around 13.2million, 44.7 km in length, and a gross weight of 7.11 billion metric tons._ I shook my head at the bout of information that ran through my head, part of the "process" after learning. It was magnificent though. The nebula clouds concealed the center of the space station, it's 'arms' the only thing that you could make out at first. The clouds looked to be a grey-white with a tint of purple, the inside of the arms bright orange.

"Normandy to Citadel Tower. Requesting clearance to dock."

"This is Citadel Tower. Clearance granted, transferring you to Alliance Control."

"Roger that, Normandy out."

The pilot, Jeff aka Joker, maneuvered the ship easily around and past the bigger ships that were travelling through the empty space between the arms of the Citadel. Soon the ship was docked to the Normandy's personal docking port. We were here. I turned away from the window and shifted nervously, C-Sec would be coming for us. The deal that Adams had made, if you could really call it that, was to pretty much hand ourselves over to Council Control since we couldn't get to the actual Alliance brass. Scientists would look into our medical and psychological records and then evaluate us themselves, determining if we were a threat to the citizens of the Citadel. I just had to get my psych-eval. All the tests that Dr. Solus had run were good enough, or at least that's what Shepard had vouched for. I took the elevator down one floor to get to the Cargo Bay where everyone else was. The doors opened and once again I felt nervous. Adams was still miffed at me for the stunt I pulled but had calmed down. I walked past Steve, the Normandy's personal shuttle pilot, and James.

Sam smiled when he saw me and gave a small wave; as usual the children, Brandon, Kye, Brittany and Leanne- were gathered around him, Barbara and Charlie weren't far away from them either. They were the oldest members of the Experiments, Barbara at 60 and Charlie at 67, while the kids were from 15 to 17. The rest of the adults were talking amongst themselves: Kevin, Adams, Scott, Kaitlyn, Savannah and Ellen. I walked up to Sam and the kids, giving them a small smile as we waited for Shepard, or whoever, to come collect us. It didn't take long really; I was on my third round of Rock-Paper-Scissors with Leanne when Shepard, Garrus and some other man walked out of the elevator. Good, that match was getting intense.

"These are the people that are being handed over?" the strange man asked. He looked us over before turning his attention back to Shepard, who nodded in response.

"This is Commander Bailey with C-Sec." Shepard introduced the man. "He's in charge of the C-Sec operations of the Citadel Embassies quarters. You will be meeting with Ambassador Osoba after your evaluations so Bailey here is going to be handling the transfers and arrangements." Commander Bailey pulled up his Omni-tool, scrolling through some information before he stepped forward and clasped his hands behind his back.

"All of your items will be left here in the Bay, which includes weapons and your bags. They will be carried out by the workers and examined by our officers. You will be taken to a determined location where we have doctors and scientists waiting to evaluate you. According to the file, Miss O'Reilly will only have to take the psych evaluation." I fisted my hand and moved it back to my body in the typical "YES" movement, quietly accompanied by an actual 'yes'. Bailey looked over to where I was standing and regarded me carefully. "You will be the first to see the Human Ambassador. Are there any questions?"

Bailey took our silence as confirmation and nodded his head.

"Shepard, I'll head out and make sure that everything is ready. Send them out in a bit." The hanger doors opened and Bailey made his way out that way. Most of us turned to see quite a few people in what I would say to be C-Sec uniform waiting at the bottom.

"Alright. O'Reilly you'll go out last." Adams ordered. "Sam: middle with the kids and Barb and Charlie. The rest of us will head out first. Make sure you have nothing on your person." I shrugged my shoulders and moved away from Sam and the kids.

"To be continued" I said to Leanne, giving her a quick pat on the head. Adams was busy checking everyone over at the moment, making sure they didn't forget or try and sneak something with them. Charlie and Barbara made their way over to Sam and the kids, good natured smiles on their faces.

"Ready to get off this ship Aurora?" Garrus asked as he walked up to me.

I shrugged my shoulders once again looking at the bay doors. "I actually liked being on the ship. Not sure what to expect out there really."

"You'll like the Citadel. It's more peaceful here than anywhere else. Lots of people and lots places to see. I could actually show you around."

"That would be nice… But I'm an augmented human; they might not let me or anyone else leave from wherever they're taking us."

"They'll let you out." Shepard said. I looked over to him not realizing he had made his way over. "If not they'll have to deal with a Spectre. No one should be locked up like an animal."

I looked at Shepard not really believing he could pull something like that off if it happened, then I looked to Garrus.

"Here." He said pulling up his omni-tool and waving it over me, Shepard doing the same. My own pinged as they sent something to me. Pulling up the information I saw messaging numbers. I now had direct access to contact to Garrus and Shepard. "That number will be forwarded directly to the Normandy. If anything goes wrong, send us a message and we'll come busting through the doors to save the day."

"Like we usually do, eh Shepard?" Garrus mentioned. Shepard clapped Garrus on the shoulder laughing. Garrus' mandibles flared out in a smile as he soon joined the Commander with laughter of his own. I smiled in spite of the fact that I was somewhat nervous to leave the ship. I saved the numbers to my Omni-tool before sending Garrus my own Omni-ID.

"Let's move people!" Adams called out. He walked up to Shepard and stuck his hand out. Shepard grabbed his hand with a firm handshake wishing us well and goodbye for now. Adams guided me away before he walked past the middle group and started walking out. I turned and waved goodbye to Shepard and Garrus. I had barely walked down the ramp before I quickly typed a message to Garrus: _You better come back and show me around. Or bust me out. Which ever._

A Turian C-Sec officer guided me to a shuttle; much like the one Shepard had, and helped me in before getting in himself. Barbara, Charlie and Brandon were led to the shuttle as well before we were off.

_According to Shepard, I'm supposed to say 'That's what friends are for'._

I smiled at Garrus' reply before the officer ruined the moment.

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"Name?"

"Aurora O'Reilly."

"Age?"

"Seriously?" Apparently he was. "31."

Psych evals. Sucked as much as the physicals. Everything you said had a possible hidden meaning. Answering too direct meant one thing, playing things off meant another.

"Are you anxious or nervous?" _Duh._ "Do you feel separated from other people, like it's you against the galaxy?" _Pretty sure that's how Shepard feels._ "How does the future look to you at this time?" _Uh, hopefully not Reaper filled. _"Do you ever receive headaches or random blackouts as a result of your time in cryo or anything else?" _No, I'm not indoctrinated._ "Do you have any anger towards the cryo program?" _No, I'm not going to snap because I'm angry._ "Any thoughts about living relatives?" _Because that won't freak them out right? _"Are you sexually frustrated?" _Well now I am…_ "What is and was your reaction to seeing a sentient alien race?" _I'm talking to you aren't I?_

The questions continued, of course I kept all my sarcastic comments to myself and answered like I normally did. I stretched when the doc seemed to slow down (a bit) with his questions. We'd been at this for an hour maybe more.

"You know, this whole thing seems almost…" The doctor trailed off trying to find the correct word. Which was weird seeing that he was a Salarian. _Wow that was biased… I've only met one other Salarian._

"Clinical?" I answered. He nodded his head in agreement.

"Psychological evaluations were conducted all the time when we woke up. Even when they were confident nothing would go wrong mentally, they still made sure. It's like a routine really."

The Doctor was silent as he added notes to his datapad.

"Well, you seem sound. The medical records we received showed you have had previous evaluations as you mentioned, all seem to show the same results; that your mental status has not changed much over time."

"So I'm free to go?"

"That is up to your Ambassador and the Council."

"But you're not declaring me dangerous right?"

"No we are not."

I grinned at the small win I had achieved, maybe Garrus and Shepard wouldn't have to bust me out after all! There was a small chance that I was one step closer to actually being released and officially done with the cryo program. The doctor finished with the datapad as he signed off on my "Passed" form and walked me out of the room, shaking my hand before he left to wait for another person to evaluate.

"O'Reilly?"

"Commander Bailey." He flinched as I greeted him and it did not go unnoticed. The doc also had a similar reaction. The Turian behind Bailey fluttered his mandibles, and if I wasn't mistaken I could hear a soft rumble coming from his chest. _I really need to get used to that…_

"The Ambassador is free and it seems that you passed your exam." I smiled at him.

"Officer Delek and I will escort you to the Ambassador's office." The Turian officer who had escorted me to the shuttle only hours earlier stepped forward at the mention of his name, the rumbling continued and it also sounded like a small trill was under that deep sound. It reminded me almost of Garrus' way of thinking. He definitely was looking me over in the same way that Garrus had when he was trying to figure something out and Garrus did say that each was different. Delek was a dark brown Turian with a greyish-white markings that covered a lot of his face, he was tall like Garrus, although not as broad in the shoulders. Granted that could have been the fact that Garrus' armor was thicker.

"That would be great Commander." I replied looking back to Bailey. The 3 of us walked out of the building that was serving as the testing facility. In all actuality it was a warehouse that had been converted and sterilized to work as the testing facility. We enter into a C-Sec sky car and made our way to the Embassies. Bailey sat up front driving while Delek and I sat in the back. I was glad to know that even the concept of keeping windows for vehicles was still around. The military and C-Sec shuttles didn't have windows, which made sense. I sat in the back watching the other sky cars and buildings pass by. We were out of the warehouse area passing through this section covered with bright fluorescent lights but it soon disappeared as we entered a tunnel along with the rest of the traffic, the darkness only lit by the few lights that dotted the walls and ceiling as well as the vehicle lights. When we exited I couldn't believe how pristine this part of the Citadel was. Everything was white. Below us was a body of water that seemed to follow the length of this whole area right down the middle. The edge of the water and a lot of the surrounding area was dotted with green; trees and plants, alien and known. It was beautiful and calm.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I might skip around with meeting certain people or cut the 'scenes' short. I always want to get right to the better bits; meaning Garrus. Again, thank you for the comments and sorry for my chapter mess ups. Which I just realized, I still haven't fixed one of them. Please leave more feedback or whatever. Enjoy my most worded chapter so far! That made sense right?  
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**Disclaimer: The Mass Effect world and lives are owned by Bioware, except the story plot and OC's.**

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Bailey tapped the elevator button, the doors closed and up we went. Another thing that had stayed the same: Elevators. I watched what little scenery I could see through the side windows move at a descent speed. We were going up smoothly, not quite as fast as I hoped but fast enough. That was the lucky part of the ride; the unlucky part was the silence. No music, no talking, nothing. Bailey was on his omni-tool and with Delek here…

"If you stare any harder, I'll have holes in the back of my head." I quipped, turning a bit so I could look at the Turian who stood behind me. He blinked slowly not saying anything. I rolled my eyes and went back to looking out the side windows.

"I know that I'm going to meet the Ambassador but where exactly are we?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"The Presidium." Bailey answered. He hadn't even turned to look at me, just kept his eyes on his omni-tool._ Location: In the 10km wide central ring of the station_. "The Presidium is home to the various government offices of the Citadel Council, as well as embassies for all of the species represented in the Citadel."

"Okay." I responded. It was a straight forwards answer. The elevator finally stopped moving taking a second to open the doors. I didn't have a lot of time to look around or at any of the people walking around as Bailey and Delek hurried us to the left and into an area with multiple offices. We stopped at a door labeled "Human Embassy" and waited patiently as the door chimed our arrival. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted what I recalled being a Hanar; turning I could see a very tall and pink, jelly like creature that stood on tentacles. No eyes or face. The door opened, Bailey walking in first, and when I didn't move Delek gently placed his hand on my shoulder to lead me thru the door.

"Ambassador Osoba, may I introduce Aurora O'Reilly. She is…" Bailey trailed off a bit as the Ambassador studied me from behind his desk._ It would be difficult when introducing what I am exactly. Especially since human testing was thought taboo...  
_

"Experiment 07 of 14 of the Cryogenics and Experimentation Learning Program. Or whatever they called it." I finished for Bailey. I was sure that the Ambassador would have been informed of the situation and the- 'standings' that I, and the others, were in. The Ambassador sat unmoved in his chair, his jaw twitching in barely noticeable movements, as if he was either trying to keep his jaw from dropping or trying to formulate a sentence. Bailey and Delek stood still waiting for the shocked Ambassador to move or say something. I tilted my head to the side slightly watching the man closely. His eyes quickly darted between Delek and me. Well at least the people here were quick. The Human Ambassador looked to be older than myself, possibly in his 40's, with dark brown hair, tanned skin and these pale grey-tinted-blue eyes. The lightness of them reminded me of Garrus' eyes, although his eyes were much much prettier and much much bluer. Especially the colors near his irises; they were this sea foam green with flecks of gold. I lifted my head from its tilted position and shifted my weight to one foot.

"I-it's a pleasure to meet you Miss O'Reilly." Osoba finally said.

"Thank you sir, it's nice to meet you as well." I responded. Osoba twitched a bit at my voice. _Have to get used to that…_ Osoba motioned to the chair in front of his desk. I moved away from the C-Sec officers and sat down mumbling a 'thank you'.

"Commander Shepard had the information sent to Admiral Hacket of the Alliance, who told Shepard to forward it to the myself and the Human Councilor since your destination is the Citadel." Osoba sat forward in his chair, leaning on his elbows. "I have read the reports from Shepard and Hacket with a man named… Adams. Then there were also the files that your people supplied us with. You were the only one who allowed yourself to be studied. Why is that?"

I thought for a second, gathering my thoughts. "The Commander made it very clear that he did not trust us, which I understand. Forming some sort of trust was the most logical conclusion." The Ambassador nodded his head at my words. "There's also another personal reason. I don't want to be a part of that… group anymore. Not that I have any grudges against what happened or the people, I just don't want to deal with more testing; so if having a doctor look over me is one step closer to being a free citizen then so be it. I want out."

He grimaced. "Of that I can only imagine. Dr. Mordin was very thorough in his findings and with the information provided we can only hope to have you cleared as a citizen soon as well as your comrades." I smiled as he spoke. I was almost there.

"Now, about your financials…"

...

_Coming to the Citadel for an emergency. – GV_

_Garrus! What happened? Is everything alright? Are you okay? – AO_

_Kaidan was injured. Going to Huertta Memorial Hospital. ETA 3 hours. – GV_

I sat up from my lounging position on the couch, re-reading the message over a few times. It had been a few weeks since our arrival on the Citadel. Everyone, except for the kids and Barbara and Charlie had gone our separate ways. The Council had deemed us an 'UNKNOWN' which required 1 month of guarded-partial-house-arrest to see how we would react to being around people. Tomorrow was the last day. After the meeting with Ambassador Osoba, we had received our financials. Being frozen for almost 200 years had been good to the bank. I could live comfortably anywhere for the rest of my life (possibly for multiple lifetimes if I played my cards right) and do whatever I wanted; within Council limits of course. Right now, finding a place to live and be able to kick my feet up was perfect. I knew that there was a war going on. I had donated some money to the war effort already, always checking to see how much more I could do. It was selfish of me to just want to sit and do nothing. Especially since a friend of mine was out there risking his hide to save us all. Said friend had only been able to send me a few messages, replying when he could. But right now I just wanted a moment to myself…

_Is he going to live? – AO_

While I had not left on the best terms with Kaidan, that didn't mean I wanted him seriously injured. I glanced at the time. It was a little after 10 am CT, getting to the Huertta wouldn't be so bad. I got up from the couch and took a deep breath.

_Seriously injured. Huertta is the best. – GV_

Garrus pinged me back telling me not to worry, saying that I didn't have to show up, but that wasn't going to happen. What needed to happen was for me to stay calm. I wasn't his friend but freaking out a little bit wouldn't help. I jogged upstairs and quickly stripped my clothes, hopping into the shower. The water was cold when I got in, and I let out a yelp. Luckily it heated up quickly. I took a 45 minute shower doing everything slow and calm. _Freaking out won't help anyone_. I turned off the water, grabbed a towel and started drying myself off. I got dressed, dried the top of my hair and put on a small amount of makeup. I kept glancing at the clock, trying to drag out everything I did. When there was an hour and a half left, I left my apartment locking the door behind me.

"Miss O'Reilly, are you planning on going somewhere?" My guard at the moment was Frenze. He was a dark brown Salarian with lighter brown markings on his face. The markings were unnatural, kind of like how the Turians tattooed/painted their faces, although I had never asked if they meant the same thing.

"Huertta Memorial. A friend of mine just messaged me that an acquaintance, Major Alenko of the Normandy, is going to be there." Frenze didn't say anything and just followed as I walked past him. It wasn't a far walk to get outside, but before I could call a Skycar from the terminal one had already dropped down and hovered in idle, the door opening. Frenze thought of everything. I stepped inside, Frenze following and asked to be taken to Huertta. The cab driver nodded his head, closing the door and taking off.

...

I quickly walked out of the elevator, Frenze following me closely. Even with the cab drivers knowledge of the 'side' fly-zones Garrus had already told me that Kaidan was admitted having arrived earlier than expected and was rushed to the Hospital. _Calm._ I slowed myself down and walked towards the receptionist's desk. I didn't make it all the way before I heard someone call my name.

"Aurora!" I turned my head and smiled at the person who called my name. Shepard briskly jogged over to me. He looked tired even with the smile on his own face. His smile dropped a bit after a second though,"You heard about Kaidan I'm guessing?" I nodded.

Shepard looked at Frenze before looking back at me.

I shrugged. "Under guard by order of the Council." Shepard sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. I gave him a small smile even though he couldn't see it.

"It's temporary. No need for you or Garrus to come in guns-a-blazin. How's Kaidan?" I asked.

Shepard opened his eyes and he sighed once again.

"I'm not sure. He's in critical condition right now until the doctors finish assessing how seriously injured he really is." I nodded slowly.

"How's everyone else?"

"They're alright; if anything they have some bruising or scratches. They're still aboard the Normandy till-" Shepard's omni-tool flashed with an incoming message. Shepard muttered a 'sorry' as he checked the message. He gave the message a tired smile before writing his own message and sending it out. "Good, the crew needed some shore time."

"Commander Shepard, a moment of your time please?" A woman with short red hair, in green a green doctor's outfit and with a European accent walked up to Shepard, who nodded his head in greeting and response.

"If there's anything that the doctors and Kaidan nees, let me know. You and you're crew are the best hope the galaxy- or so I'm told. If you have time, maybe we could catch up Shepard." Shepard's eyebrow rose in a silent question but he nodded his head all the same. "Send me a message sometime." I said already turning to walk away. I walked next to Frenze, back to the elevator. Ping.

_Meet me at Docking Bay D-24. – GV_

* * *

"Hold the door!" I took the last 2 strides quickly, readjusting my grasp on my bag to keep it from dropping, and stepped into the airlock.

'Now adjusting cabin pressure to outside atmosphere.' Edi's voice was heard over the almost silent hiss as the pressure was changed to match the air pressure of the Citadel. Which was weird since her bo- _she_ was standing in the air lock with me. This had to be a really weird adjustment for all, including and with the exception of Joker. They hadn't left each other's sides since Edi had reactivated the body.

"Spending the night in a hotel Garrus?" Tali asked. She didn't have much with her, well anything really. Liara was leaving, so were Joker and Edi in her brand new body. I nodded my head once to Tali's question; she sighed in response to my lack of answer. At the moment I wasn't big on being near Tali, of course it didn't jeopardize any mission. I was still a good Turian when it came to that. It could be called a 'falling out'. She expressed interest, I expressed interest; she ended up going to Kal Reegar and not telling me till much later. The bag I carried held an extra change of clothes as well as my concealed pistol; though I still wore my armor. Still couldn't be too careful, even on the Citadel. Running around with Shepard had taught me that, being on Omega had taught me that. Like Shepard I was over working myself, unlike Shepard I knew that I needed to take a breather. Aurora and I had been talking as much as we could, being on a dangerous-mission-riddled-ship allowed. _At first I kept talking to her because part of me felt bad that she was alone in the world really. _Sure she had the rest of… the Experiments but no one else. And according to her, they all parted ways. It had been 3 weeks since Shepard dropped off Aurora and the others. _Now I talk to her because I like to talk to her; because I like her… Not like-like of course. She is pretty. She might not be into Turians. Stop thinking Garrus._

The airlock doors opened, the crew moved out going to their already chosen locations to rest. I stepped out, shouldering the… what did the humans call it again? A duffel bag? Close enough. I looked around trying to spot one of the few humans I'd taken a liking too. There she was! My mandibles flared out into a smile seeing her. She as standing on her toes looking around but froze when she looked in my direction, a big smile was spreading across her face. _She looks nice smiling._ She moved in my direction and I moved in hers, but I froze. A dark brown Salarian with light markings was shadowing her. And not well. My brow plates shifted down more so then was usual for a Turian. Something I had made more prominent since I had been with Shepard. Glaring. When Aurora was less than an arm reach away and the arm that was not holding the bag reached out and moved her behind me. I stood at full height and stared down at the Salarian, a growl rumbling out of my chest that I knew he could hear.

"You'd better take a step back from her."

"Garrus!" Aurora grabbed my arm tugging me away from the Salarian. I could practically smell the fear from him, but he stood his ground his hand reaching behind him to a possible sidearm. "I'm under guard by order of the Council. Frenze is just doing his job- Frenze don't." I didn't move away from him. "Garrus!" Aurora's harmonics flared out in a plea. I stepped away from 'Frenze' before turning to look at Aurora. She sighed softly.

"I know I should have told you."

"Damn right you should have." I growled out. "I thought he was shadowing you as a target!" She gave me a smile.

"Didn't know you cared." She teased. She was teasing me… This was not funny! What if she was- _Wait. Under guard? The Council is having her watched?_ She then looked me over, taking a moment to stare at my shore bag. "Where are you staying?"

She was trying to change the subject. The C-Sec side of me that still resided wanted to question her even further, wanted to question that Salarian- Frenze was it? But if she was under guard from the Council it had to be for a reason, and if she wasn't worried or hadn't called to tell me then there might not be a problem. I still had contacts in C-Sec, which is where this Salarian most likely worked, I'd figure it out sooner or later. I glanced around a bit before I answered, like I said _can't be too careful_, "Some place in the Lower Wards, saving money." Okay, that was somewhat of a lie, it's not that I couldn't afford a nice place to stay.

One of Aurora's eyebrows rose, then she tilted herself to look at the Salarian behind me.

"It's not the best place on the Citadel" he said, answering some unspoken question. Aurora rolled her eyes as she righted herself.

"You can stay with me Garrus." She finally said.

"I'm not sharing a room with-"

"It'll be just like a hotel. Your own room, a warm bed, all you can eat, and you can come and go as you please." She stepped up to my empty side and linked arms with me, pulling me towards the elevator. Frenze followed behind as he pulled up his omni-tool. "Plus it's free and I won't even charge you to bask in my glowing friendship."

She couldn't see it but I had the biggest smile on my face. I hummed gently, not caring that Aurora could hear me. Spending shore leave with Aurora. I hummed a bit louder.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: ****Enjoy the earlier posting.** Alright, I'm going to move things along quickly. Hopefully I remember to put the reasoning down in the chapter. This one or the next.

**EVEN LONGER CHAPTER! :D I'm so proud of myself. Is that weird?**

* * *

...

* * *

I waved my omni-tool, unlocking the door with my access codes. Garrus, Frenze and I stepped inside. I gave Frenze a weird look but ignored it. Frenze always stayed on perimeter, although this was the first time I had anyone over so I guess this was a special occasion. Garrus froze as he looked around.

"Spirits, how did you-?" he asked. Frenze stayed by the door still on his omni-tool, waiting.

"Payment from the company. Working for a place for almost 200 years does wonders to the bank account."

The layout of the apartment was very big: 2 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, full kitchen with an island, a large living room with a small built in bar, a loft type area, and an extra room which I had yet to decide what to be. I guess it was actually considered a condo since I owned it. Garrus set down his shore bag to the side of the door and continued to look around as he walked further into the condo.

"General Vakarian" Frenze called, "The Turian Councilor has granted to temporary access to stay with Ms. O'Reilly if you wish. Have a good day." Frenze walked out the door and locked it behind him.

"General?" I asked.

"A formality really, 'Reaper Specialist'."

"Uh huh…" I stared at him for a second before shaking my head a bit. "Whatever. Is there anything you wanted to do first?" Garrus was still in his armor, which I found a bit weird but to each their own. From what I had seen on the Normandy everyone was ready to go at a moment's notice; prepared not paranoid, actually it could have been the other way around for all I knew.

Garrus smiled and went back to his bag, picking it up off the floor. "So, where is this room of mine you promised?"

"I promised nothing." I walked upstairs hearing Garrus follow after me. I passed the loft area and walked to the right, opening a door and letting him in. Inside it was simple. Large bed, with 2 nightstands, standard lighting, a table with a chair and 2 doors: One a closet, the other a personal bathroom. It was clean and inviting.

"Sorry it's not much but make yourself at home."

"It's perfect Aurora."

…

Aurora left me in the room mentioning something about 'food'. The room was simple but much better than any of the places I would have stayed in. Aurora wanted my personal take on what to decorate the room with, but that would come later when I took her out again. The food would take a while to get here if she was ordering, which I hoped she was. I removed my gloves first and continued on with the process of removing my armor; gauntlets, shoulder pieces, chest, stomach, boots, legs… I placed my armor in a semi neat pile on the edge of the bed. Walking into the bathroom, I turned on the water to as hot as it could go before I stripped out of my under suit, removing my visor and placing it on the counter space after some debate, and stepped under the shower head. I had been here a week so far, Shepard had requested a large amount of shore leave saying that the crew had been through hell. Which we had been. Plus it gave Mordin more time to work on the cure with Eve. Earlier in the week, I'd taken Aurora on part of my tour of the Citadel. We'd been down to the Wards to go to the Markets, the Presidium to see the parks, Silversun Strip and to Purgatory once. Aurora was very pushy when it came to letting me go off on my own though, saying that this place was like a hotel where I could come and go as I pleased. She wanted me to have time to myself. Truth is I very much enjoyed her company rather than spending my time alone. Talking to her over messages was great and I never thought that spending actual time with her would be this nice. Or that I would enjoy it this much.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night needing some water. Why I didn't think to keep a glass in my bathroom or something was beyond me. I groaned quietly, getting out of bed. Staring at my closet, I flipped it off before walking out of my room. Too lazy to go and grab a jacket from all the way over there and luckily it wasn't that cold. I quietly made my way downstairs and snuck into the kitchen; I didn't know how lite of a sleep my Turian friend was and waking him on his 2nd night here really didn't seem appealing. Garrus had taken me to the Wards today, specifically to the Markets. There were a lot of type of items being sold down there and according to him not all of it was legal. Of course there wasn't a lot to be done about it. He had purchased a new scope for his sniper rifle while I admired some of the more tourist items.

I didn't want to turn on the light, the faded light that stayed illuminated at night was just what I was willing to handle. I reached up to grab a glass of water and turned hearing something move.

"What're you doing up?" Garrus asked. I relaxed and went to fill my glass with some ice. I opened the freezer just a bit, squinting as the bright light hit my eyes.

"Scratch that, what are you wearing?" I blinked a few times, and then looked down. I was wearing a small tank top and pajama bottoms- blue with purple varren all over them.

"My pajamas?" I answered closing the freezer door. I then filled my glass with water before taking a sip. "What're you doing up?" Garrus crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, his arms flexing. Who knew Turians had muscle like that?

…

_142… 143… 144… 145…_

"Aurora?"

"Here!" _146… 147…_

"Wanted to know if- uh I'll come back." _148…_

"2 more." _149… 150._ I lay back for a second before rolling up to stand. I grabbed my water bottle and towel, taking a few swigs of the beautiful liquid while a rested the towel over my shoulder.

_Sprirts _the Turian thought. _She- LOOK AWAY. Stop staring at her hips and- Spirits again, her waist is..._

"Uh, I can come back when you're dressed." Garrus had raised his head up to not look at my- well partially covered body. Sports bra, shorts and shoes.

"Workout clothes Garrus, so you're fine. Plus, sit ups are my last workout, I'm done." Garrus lowered his head to meet my eyes, very polite, and kept his gaze there.

…

We walked side by side through the Presidium in one of the larger parks. Many people were here as well; taking walks, talking to others or threw their earpieces, working, relaxing, picnics and a few that brought their kids to enjoy time together. We stepped aside as a group of Turians jogged past us in running gear then continued on.

"Is the weather always this perfect?" Aurora asked, looking around. The sky was blue with a few clouds floating around, the artificial light felt warm through the material of my clothes (used to wearing armor all the time) and a gentle breeze blew around us.

I thought for a second before I nodded my head once in response, "Yes."

"Shame," she said before smiling, "A thunderstorm once in a while would be nice, but I see the appeal of having it be like this. It's peaceful."

"What's so wonderful about being caught in the rain?" Cold, wet, and clothes sticking uncomfortably against skin; that did not sound appealing at all. We stopped walking and sat down on a bench that was unoccupied.

"Clearly you've never been caught in the rain with a girl." She, what did the humans sat it was? Human females and Asari did it, they were the only females to do so openly really. It was gurgling? No that's not right. Giggling? That sounded right. She giggled. _That was cute…_

"Close your eyes and imagine it Garrus," she started moving her arm in front of her in an arc, like she was moving aside the world we were in to paint the world she described. "You and a female of your choice have just finished a public activity, like a date." I rolled my eyes but humored Aurora all the same, imagining that there wasn't a war going on was sometimes a good thing. "You happen to have an umbrella and she doesn't. Being the gentleman you are Mr. Vakarian, you offer to share your umbrella to get her to a skycar, which is 2 blocks away." _Why would I have an umbrella..?_ "You move closer to each other so both of you are sheltered under the safety of the umbrella; the rain has made it a tad chillier and as you walk she moves closer to you for warmth. Pressing her body against yours." I thought of myself and one of the Turian girls I'd taken to dinner, imagining the situation. The idea did have perks. "Or you could just blow the idea of an umbrella to hell and run through the rain together. Either way, she'll want you to keep her warm." Now that sounded better. Running through the rain sounded like a stupid idea, but once they were safe under an awning he would pull her close. My talons on her waist, guiding her against my body as her hands made her way to the back of my neck. _I can definitely see the perks of getting caught in the rain…_ Talons- my vision switched to the imagination of blunted nails from a humans hand digging into my neck instead of the talons I was used to. I looked down and instead of the female Turian I imaginged I had a human female that I'd come to know well, her clothes sticking to her body showing off those delicious curves that Humans and Asari had. Those hands that were at the back of my neck moved up to just below my fringe and dug in-

I snapped my eyes open. My plates had shifted a bit.

"Now how you keep each other warm is up to you." Aurora chuckled and nudged me with her shoulder. "See why it has benefits?"

I cleared my throat before briefly looking at her, "Yes."

* * *

I groaned in relief at the feeling of the hot water. I went to the Armax Arsenal Arena with Shepard earlier and this felt like heaven. I stayed like that for as long as I dared. Taking the bottles I brought in earlier I stepped out from under the spray water and poured the liquid into my palms before I rubbed it over my body. Fringe to talons. It was similar to the oils that were in the Palaven Bathing Houses, only this was meant to rinse off under water not to be scraped off like usual. I let the oils sit for a while before going back to stand under the hot water once again. _Spirits, this is nice._

The Normandy had hot water of course but it could never get to the temperature I preferred. This was hot to me; I could only imagine it would be scalding to another species. Aurora told me not to worry about hot water consumption and at this moment I was glad that I finally listened to her.

After the excess oil was rinsed off I stepped out and grabbed one of the fluffy towels that hung on the wall. _Even the towels feel nice._ After patting myself dry I placed the towel back to hang dry, placed my visor back on and walked to get my clothes. I glanced at the pistol that was next to my armor, wondering if I should just strap it to my leg. After putting my pants on I slipped on my shirt and the holster for the pistol before strapping the pistol in. Hot shower, some hot food in a bit and a hot gi- _Wait, _I shook my head, _Stop_ I told myself.

I opened the door and sniffed the air. Something smelt good. _Is that Turian?_ I followed my nose down the stairs and to the kitchen. Frenze stood at the bottom of the stairs looking into the kitchen before escorting a light brown Turian out of the condo. The Turian kept looking back into the kitchen in some sort of shock. I rounded one of the few corners and stepped into the kitchen. That amazing smell was coming from those take out bags. Aurora was then opening a few of the boxes, staring at the contents inside before moving on. Turian food ! There was Kheelie, fresh Charra, Sradis root and Xenna… and a Turian desert covered in Dulglyci.

I rushed over smelling taking a deep breath of the feast that lay before me. My mouth watered. Rations aboard the Normady were much better than Turian Nutrient Paste, but this was actual food; Turian dishes. And good ones at that. We had ordered in food before but this was from the restaurant Palaven- prepared with the freshest ingredients, very expensive. I widened my eyes as I realized what I was doing- I took a step back and straightened up, stiff as a board. I looked over to Aurora who was covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes twinkling and her shoulders shaking a bit. I felt a small amount of heat in my neck- I knew that my neck had a nice tinge of blue to it at the moment.

Aurora removed her hand and smiled, still biting back her laughter.

"Help me take these to the living room. We can watch that new Blasto movie that's been on the Extranet." She closed a few of the takeout boxes and started walking towards the living room.

"You like Blasto?"

"I'm trying to get with the times Vakarian." She replied, bumping her hip into mine. I've seen humans do something like that before, on the rare occasion with the hip, mainly I've seen them bump shoulders with friends, or punch each other in the arm. Shepard punched me all the time like that… I looked after her, watching the sway of her hips. She bent down, placing the boxes on the table and I turned to grab the food, quickly I might add. _Right._

I walked over to the table with her. She already had eating utensils out; permanent human ones and disposable Turian ones.

"Oh! What do you want to drink? I snuck in some dextro-stuff since you're here" she asked turning to me. I set the food down thinking. "I've got-" She rushed into the kitchen quickly. My eyes immediately moved to her waist and hips. She opened a cabinet first and then the fridge. "Tisane" _Tea._ "Canna" _Turian rum._ "Uklatia" _Wine._ "Dextro-beer" _Nice._ "Crumberry juice" _Sweet. _"And water."

"Uh, any of it sounds good." _ Please choose something to take my mind off the way you sway…_ I dragged my eyes away and looked down at the food. _I don't like humans, they aren't that attractive. Turian women. Small waist. Short, smooth fringe. Shallow cowl._ Aurora made her way back. _Curvy hips with long legs… Smooth skin. Long hair. Flat stomach and a chest-_

She set down 2 glasses filled with clear liquid and 2 bottles; the Canna and Crumberry.

"Well you're leave is almost over... So a little as a celebration of the fun week we've had." She handed me one of the glasses and took one for herself. She raised it a bit before taking a sip and I did in return, before taking a big gulp of the Turian rum. It burned the back of my throat and tingled my nose. If Aurora noticed anything she didn't say, so I poured myself some more. Aurora turned on the television and started the movie.

…

"So what exactly is this?" I asked looking at the red piece of meat Garrus was about to eat. It almost looked raw.

"Kheelie. It's game animal." Garrus shoved the food into his mouth before chewing. Watching a Turian chew was different, their mandibles moved to stay by the side of their face, like how a human's cheek worked in the sense. I looked over the array of food. "Animal that Turians hunt." He continued. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"And that?" I asked, pointing to some sliced looking object. It was a beautiful blue color with some light purple on the outside and a peach color on the inside, the very center revealing that it once had a seed type object in it, the edges where the peach touched seed a blood red. It looked like a fruit.

"Charra. It's a fruit. Very refreshing and sweet if picked at the right time. You would eat the skin and all." Garrus took another bite of Kheelie. Garrus had already consumed a large amount of the Kheelie and some of the other meat-food-thing on the table.

I grabbed one of the slices and stared at it before taking a small bite.

It was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth, very different, alien if I were say it but delicious all the same. My mouth felt cool, like it had some type of mint in it. I popped the rest of the slice in my mouth, the cooling feeling moving from my mouth to my chest when I swallowed. Like the sensation of swallowing an ice cube or ice cream and feeling the coolness in your chest, but when I breathed it didn't get colder like I thought; not like when you were chewing mint gum and sucking in air made your mouth colder. The feeling was there, but no taste to describe it. Now I knew what it was like: water, cold water on a super-hot day. Garrus said refreshing and boy he was right. The credits were definitely worth it. I licked my lips.

The movie hadn't officially started. The previews were still rolling, but I wasn't in any hurry.

"I take it you like it?" he asked. Garrus grabbed a slice of the Charra, biting it in half. He closed his eyes in appreciation before finishing the rest of his piece.

I nodded my head "Mm-hmm."

"Try some of the Xenna" he said, pointing to the other meat. I grabbed my fork, took a piece of the charred food and ate it.

After a second I nodded my head, "Tastes like…"

"If you say chicken, I swear to the Spirits."

"Beef Garrus. It tastes like beef."

"What is beef?"

"Cow. Now shush and pass me some more of the Xenna. The movie's starting!"

…

Garrus had consumed most of the food, although I had gotten enough to eat so that was fine. I poured myself another glass of the rum, mixing it with the fruit juice. It went together nicely. I was more of a fan of sweet things when it came to drinks. Garrus and I had been drinking quite a bit; the newly opened bottle #3 was almost empty. I was pretty good right now- the right kind of drunk. Garrus and I had moved to sitting next to each other, him on the left; me on the right. Garrus shifted, leaning back more and closer to me, raising his arm to rest on the back of the couch right behind me.

This movie was filled with tons of explosions and action. At first I worried that Garrus wouldn't like it after the first action scene, since this was pretty much what he did on a regular basis. But my worries washed away, especially when he made another comment on a hacking scene:

"Hacking isn't a few clicks of, of the, the omni-tool. That actor doesn't even under-understand the technical talk. It's all wrong. Wrong!"

I laughed.

He turned to look at me, his eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. "You've got a nice laugh" he commented, slightly leaning his head forward._  
_

I smiled at this, _who knew Garrus was so smooth_. "Well thank you Garrus."

"I. Am pretty drunk." His voice dropped a bit to this deep resounding bass that triggered something. _Holy crap_ I thought _that was hot._


End file.
